Fantastic battles from the World Cup

by Robert Ris
8/10/2023 – One of the most exciting events in the chess calendar, the FIDE World Cup, is taking place in Baku. Players try to show their best as they fight for spots in the next edition of the Candidates Tournaments, both in the open and in the women’s section. Robert Ris, a successful coach and a fantastic analyst, has been publishing videos with highlights from the much-anticipated tournament. Not to be missed!
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Wei Yi’s masterpiece

In his first game of the event, tactical wizard Wei Yi won a remarkable game against Brazilian GM Luis Supi. Both kings were under attack, but it was Wei who emerged victorious after playing a couple of outstanding moves.

32.Nc8 is a great tactical recourse which gains a crucial tempo in the double-edged position. 32...Rxc8 33.d7 followed, and Wei went on to win soon after.

Two cornered knights in Krush vs. Shuvalova

Polina Shuvalova knocked out 8-time US women’s chess champion Irina Krush in round 3. In the decisive game of the match, the contenders reached a curious position, with knights sitting on a1 and a8 at the same time!

17.Bxa7, keeping the symmetry, was in fact a costly mistake by Krush. Following complications, Shuvalova emerged with an extra pawn on the queenside and went on to win the game.

Vallejo’s opening disaster

Bravely, Paco Vallejo played the Scotch Gambit in the first rapid game of tiebreaks against Andrey Esipenko. The experiment backfired, though, as Esipenko was merciless once the Spaniard entered a mistaken sequence early on.

15...Nd3+ is a beautiful tactical shot. Black was already clearly winning at this point, as he needed only seven more moves to take the lead on the scoreboard.

In this detailed “three-part” video series I take a look at a main line White system based on 1.d4. This series is aimed at the ambitious player who is looking to put maximum pressure on their opponent from the start of the game.

Robert is an International Master who mostly spends his time training and coaching talented youngsters. On the PlayChess server The Fast and the Furious is a popular show where he explains sharp opening lines for a wider audience. He is also a well-known ChessBase author who produced numerous DVDs and regularly contributes to ChessBase Magazine as well. Since 2015 he is the organizer of the Dutch Rapid Championships in his home town Amstelveen. He has started a YouTube channel with chess analysis as well.